Bean Stitch Accent Pillow

April 29, 2017

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Two things I’m loving this spring: the Bean Stitch, and accent pillows!

So, to make this free pattern I combined the Bean Stitch with a classic ribbing to create this beautiful pillow. Vanna’s Choice in “Linen” and “Graphite” come together to give it that rustic-modern look that is always a winner to me.

Once you get the hang of the Bean Stitch, this pillow works up quick. I made it in two days while watching Nashville reruns during my son’s naps… and he’s a catnapper (UGH), so I think that’s pretty impressive! (Any of you other mamas who’ve had catnappers, I know you’re feeling my pain right now. Seriously, my laundry piles are sky high and we’ve had pizza for dinner one too many times this month. Good thing he’s cute!)

Pattern Permissions

This is a FREE pattern, and by using it, you're agreeing to the following legally-protected conditions.
You're welcome to sell what you make with it; for online listings, please link back to my blog using something like this:

Pattern by
Little Monkeys Crochet
littlemonkeyscrochet.com

Here are the “do nots”:

Do not resell the pattern, altered or in its original form.

Do not copy and paste the pattern onto your own blog, in a Facebook group, or anywhere else. Simply link to this page instead. Anything beyond this is copyright theft, regardless of what your pattern-sharing buddies tell you. 🙂

Do not pull any of my photos from this site (or any of my other sites) for your own use. The exception to this is if you want to share my article link(s) on your own blog; in this case, you are welcome to take one photo per post for use on your site as long as it is accompanied by a direct link back to my post.

A NOTE ABOUT PRINTING: My patterns no longer show up when accessed via PrintFriendly.com. (This is out of my control; please see my FAQs for more info.) If you wish to print this pattern (for personal use only), you can copy & paste it into a text editing document, or purchase the inexpensive PDF (see pattern info, below).

Bean Stitch - Insert hook into stitch, yarn over and pull through (2 loops on hook). Yarn over, insert hook into same stitch, yarn over and pull through (4 loops on hook). Yarn over, insert hook into same stitch, yarn over and pull through (6 loops on hook). Yarn over and pull through all 6 loops. Chain 1 to close the stitch.

Notes:(1) This pattern is written in American Standard Terms.(2) Starting CHs do not count as stitches.(3) Make 2.(4) Each side of the pillow is worked in one piece (with color changes). In other words, the second ribbing section is not created and sewn on separately. Once both sides of the pillow are complete, you will follow the instructions to sew them together with your pillow insert inside.(5) A Dutch translation is available here. Nederlandse vertaling gemaakt door Rita van Someren voor Haken voor Iedereen en Summerday’s Creations. Dit patroon mag niet in andere groepen, websites, blogs etc. gedeeld worden.

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SECTION 1: FIRST RIBBING

To begin: With larger hook and COLOR A, CH9.

Row 1: SC in 2nd CH from hook and in each remaining CH. (8)

Rows 2-40: CH1, turn. SC in 1st ST. SC in BLO of each of the next 6 STS. SC in last ST. (8)

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SECTION 2: BODY OF PILLOW

Body, Row 1: CH1, do not turn. SC evenly down the long edge of the ribbing, putting 1SC in each ribbing row (each peak and each valley). (40)

Switch to COLOR B, fasten off previous color.

Row 2: CH1, turn. SC in each ST across. (40)

Note: At this point we will begin using the Bean Stitch. The bulkiness of this stitch might cause you to unintentionally loosen your tension significantly. To rectify this, you can switch to a smaller hook size. The ribbing will stretch around the pillow so it is not imperative that your bean stitch rows be exactly the same length as your strip of ribbing, but you will want to measure a bean stitch row every so often to make sure you aren't crocheting the beans so loosely that the length is more than 11.5". If it is, you'll want to lower your hook size even more.

Note: If you switched to a lower hook size for rows 3-22, you can switch back to your first hook size now.

Row 23: CH1, turn. SC in each ST across. (40)

Switch to COLOR A, fasten off previous color.

Row 24: CH1, turn. SC in each ST across. (40)

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SECTION 3: LAST RIBBING

In this section, we will be creating the second ribbing by making vertical ribs and attaching them with slip stitches to the last row of the body as we go. We'll be referring to "Row 24" quite a bit; that's the last row of the body of the pillow we completed, and that's what the ribbing will be attaching to.

With hook still in your last stitch from Row 24, CH9.

Last Ribbing, Row 1: Turn work and SC in 2nd CH from hook and in each remaining CH (Fig. A). SL ST in the first SC of Row 24, then SL ST in the next SC of Row 24 as well (Fig. B). (8, plus the 2 SL STS along Row 24)

Row 2: CH1, turn. Skipping over the 2 SL STS you put in Row 24 (Fig. C), SC in BLO of each of the first 7 STS of the ribbing. SC in final ST (Fig. D). (8)

Row 3: CH1, turn. SC in first ST of ribbing. SC in BLO of each of the next 7 STS of ribbing. SL ST in each of the next 2 STS of Row 24 (Fig. E). (8, plus the 2 SL STS along Row 24)

Row 4: CH1, turn. Skipping over the 2 SL STS you put in Row 24, SC in BLO of each of the first 7 STS of the ribbing. SC in final ST. (8)

Repeat Rows 3-4 all the way along Row 24 (See Fig. F for a progress photo). You should end up with 40 rows of ribbing, which is the number of stitches in Row 24.

Do not fasten off, but do take a moment to weave in your other ends, then proceed to Edging.

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EDGING

We need to put 40 STS along each edge of our square, and to keep it looking really nice, we're going to edge each section in its own color. Continuing with COLOR A, CH1. SC evenly down the long edge of the ribbing, putting 1SC in each ribbing row (each peak and each valley) for 40 SC. CH1 to round the corner, then proceed to next edge. SC in each of the first 9 STS (8 ribbing stitches + Row 1 of the body). Attach COLOR B (Fig. G). (Note: You can decide if you want to carry the color you aren't using behind the current color, or fasten it off and reattach it at the next appropriate section. I carried mine.) SC along the BEAN STITCH section of the pillow, putting 1SC in each BEAN STITCH row for a total of 20 SC. SC in the final row of COLOR B (Row 23, the row of single crochet). Switch to COLOR A. Complete 9 more SC to finish the edge, then CH1 to round the corner. Repeat the process for edges 3 & 4, then join with a SL ST to the top of the first SC.

Here's a visual:

Fasten off and weave in all ends.

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SEWING THEM TOGETHER

Keeping your pillow insert handy, hold the two piece together exactly how you want them to be arranged on the pillow. Pick a spot on the edging that is the beginning of a COLOR A section, and attach COLOR A through the same stitch on both pieces (Fig. H). CH1, then SL ST evenly through both layers around the entire COLOR A section (Fig. I), putting (SC, CH1, SC) in each corner. When you come to the COLOR B section, attach COLOR B and fasten off COLOR A (or carry it along if you prefer) and continue. Once you've completed about 3/4 of the perimeter of the pillow, stuff your pillow insert inside (Fig. J). Continue to SC the rest of the way around. Join with a SL ST to the first SC. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Pattern Permissions

This is a FREE pattern, and by using it, you’re agreeing to the following legally-protected conditions.

You’re welcome to sell what you make with it; for online listings, please link back to my blog using something like this:

Pattern by
Little Monkeys Crochet
littlemonkeyscrochet.com

Here are the “do nots”:

Do not resell the pattern, altered or in its original form.

Do not copy and paste the pattern onto your own blog, in a Facebook group, or anywhere else. Simply link to this page instead. Anything beyond this is copyright theft. You are welcome to copy/paste it into a document for printing, for personal use only.

Do not pull any of my photos from this site (or any of my other sites) to promote yourself or your crochet business on your own blog, Facebook page, or anywhere else. The exception to this is if you want to share my article link(s) on your own blog; in this case, you are welcome to take one photo per post for use on your site as long as it is accompanied by a direct link back to my post and does not include any portion of the pattern itself.

Do not post a translation of the pattern anywhere – this is copyright theft. If you would like to help make a translation available, I am happy to publish it on my blog with a link to your blog or Crochet-related Facebook page.

Do not make a video tutorial of this pattern (or any of my patterns). For a detailed explanation of why this hurts designers, please contact me.

I welcome all comments and questions as long as they are spoken with kindness, and I will always try to extend the same respect to you with my replies. If I feel your comment is inappropriate or unnecessarily hurtful, it may be deleted at my discretion.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: I’ve just given birth to my 3rd little monkey, a baby boy named Henry James, on 12/28/16. I may be slow at responding to messages and greatly appreciate your patience during this time of transition. I’m not disappearing, but I may not be able to help you as quickly as you need it. – Rebecca 🙂

Hi Rebecca, your patterns are always welcome, but enjoy your baby boy when he is a little tyke. Upon viewing the last episode of “Call the Midwife” on PBS, I thought of you when I spotted another blanket shown with a baby. I was wondering if you saw it and if you were going to use the inspiration for a new baby blanket, the stitch was very intriguing and I have no idea of how it would be done.

Oh my! How pretty is this pillow!!! Thank you so much for the pattern! I’ll be making 2 of these for my den! Very striking looking! Color combos are floating through my head! Turquoise and off white tweed from Hobby Lobby! Congratulations for your new baby!!! Thanks again and God bless!

Love your designs. Haven’t seen so many really useful and fun things to add to my decor and the Charlotte Square worked up beautifully. I made throw for my bedroom which also works in my livingroom. Colors work. It was fun to watch it grow. Keep it coming. ~ Lisa

Hey! I’m loving this pillow but I want to make sure I’m doing it right. In the bean stitch section, are we putting the bean stitches between the bean stitches of the previous row? Like in the chain space, sort of? Or are they going into the last row’s bean stitches directly? Maybe something else? I’m not quite sure which way is right.

This is an absolutely WONDEFUL pattern! I loved every single minute of this adventure, and have felt sad now I’ve completed my project.
I really appreciate the gauge given! I wasn’t making gauge with that size hook, so adjusted for my tension, and had to adjust when my 2 colors of yarn weren’t exactly the same thickness (as sometimes happens).
In making the 2nd size, my tension was different yet, so fortunately this is an easy pattern to adjust your hook size without any other issues creeping in!
I ended up using a 14″ x 14″ inch pillow form (which was fine, because I had one that size on hand too). While this was a gift for a friend of mine, my grandson expressed his absolute LOVE for this pattern and colors I’d chosen, so voila!
I’ll be making another one right away, to stash away for Christmas!!

Thank you SO MUCH for this absolutely wonderful pattern!!!
–Frances Lightner

I'm Rebecca, a wife, mom, and tryer-of-new-crafty-things. I love to crochet, and I try to design patterns that the younger generations will love to make and love to wear. You can get to know me a little more here!